Methods and systems for managing facility power and cooling

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for determining data center cooling and power requirements and for monitoring performance of cooling and power systems in data centers. At least one aspect provides a system and method that enables a data center operator to determine available power and cooling at specific areas and enclosures in a data center to assist in locating new equipment in the data center.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method for evaluating cooling performance of a cluster of equipment racks in a data center, wherein the cluster of equipment racks includes at least a first row of racks and a second row of racks separated by a cool aisle, with each of the equipment racks being configured to draw cooling air from the cool aisle, the method comprising:
 obtaining cool airflow data for cooling air supplied to the cool aisle from an in-row cooling unit included in the cluster of racks; 
 conducting an analysis of airflows in the cool aisle including:
 determining first airflow values into a front face of each of the equipment racks from the cool aisle, and 
 determining second airflow values into and out of each end of the cool aisle; 
 
 determining, by the computer system, a recirculation index for at least one equipment rack using the first airflow values and the second airflow values; and 
 determining a cooling capacity for the at least one equipment rack using the recirculation index. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the recirculation index is equal to a ratio of recirculated air to total air in an input airflow of the at least one equipment rack. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying, via a display of the computer system, at least one of the recirculation index and the cooling capacity for the at least one the equipment rack. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising defining a plurality of control volumes in the cool aisle. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein conducting the analysis of airflow values further comprises determining airflow values in and out of each of the plurality of control volumes. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising importing empirical data and determining at least one of the first airflow values and the second airflow values using the empirical data. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the recirculation index further comprises obtaining airflow values of at least one perforated tile included in the cool aisle. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the cooling capacity for the at least one equipment rack further comprises:
 establishing a threshold value for a recirculation index of the at least one equipment rack; 
 establishing a power value supplied to the at least one equipment rack; 
 calculating, based on the power value, a new value for the recirculation index of the at least one equipment rack; and 
 determining a comparison result indicating whether the new value transgresses the threshold value. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 5 , further comprising defining a first control volume at an elevation different from a second control volume, the first and second control volumes included in the plurality of control volumes. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising using the recirculation index to detect hotspots in the data center. 
     
     
       11. A system for evaluating cooling performance of a cluster of equipment racks in a data center, wherein the cluster of equipment racks includes at least a first row of racks and a second row of racks separated by a cool aisle, with each of the equipment racks being configured to draw cooling air from the cool aisle, the system comprising:
 at least one input to receive data related to equipment and data related to cooling characteristics of the data center; 
 a controller operatively coupled to the at least one input and configured to:
 conduct an analysis of airflows in the cool aisle including determining first airflow values into a front face of each of the equipment racks from the cool aisle, and determining second airflow values into and out of each end of the cool aisle, 
 determine a recirculation index for at least one equipment rack using the first airflow values and the second airflow values, and 
 determine a cooling capacity for the at least one equipment rack using the recirculation index; and 
 
 at least one display operatively coupled to the controller that displays at least one of the recirculation index and the cooling capacity for the at least one the equipment rack. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the recirculation index as equal to a ratio of recirculated air to total air in an input airflow of the at least one equipment rack. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one input is further configured to receive cool airflow data for cooling air supplied to the cool aisle from an in-row cooling unit included in the cluster of racks. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to define a plurality of control volumes in the cool aisle. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the controller is further configured to conduct the analysis of airflow values in the cool aisle by determining airflow values into and out of each of the plurality of control volumes. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one input is further configured to receive airflow values of at least one perforated tile included in the cool aisle. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the cooling capacity by:
 establishing a threshold value for a recirculation index of the at least one equipment rack; 
 establishing a power value supplied to the at least one equipment rack; 
 calculating, based on the power value, a new value for the recirculation index of the at least one equipment rack; and 
 determining a comparison result indicating whether the new value transgresses the threshold value. 
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 15 , wherein the controller is further configured to define a first control volume at an elevation different from a second control volume, the first and second control volumes included in the plurality of control volumes. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to use the recirculation index to detect hotspots in the data center. 
     
     
       20. A computer-readable non-transitory medium encoded with instructions for execution on a computer system, the instructions when executed, performing a method comprising acts of:
 obtaining cool airflow data for cooling air supplied to the cool aisle from an in-row cooling unit included in the cluster of racks; 
 conducting an analysis of airflows in a cool aisle for a plurality of equipment racks arranged in a cluster, wherein the cluster of equipment racks includes at least a first row of racks and a second row of racks separated by the cool aisle, with each of the equipment racks being configured to draw cooling air from the cool aisle, including:
 determining first airflow values into a front face of each of the equipment racks from the cool aisle, and 
 determining second airflow values into and out of each end of the cool aisle; 
 
 determining a recirculation index for at least one equipment rack using the first airflow values and the second airflow values; and 
 determining a cooling capacity for the at least one equipment rack using the recirculation index. 
 
     
     
       21. The computer-readable non-transitory medium of  claim 20 , wherein the method comprises act of displaying at least one of the recirculation index and the cooling capacity for the at least one the equipment rack.